Very, very old story. Nona: Part Two.

 Katelyne was starting to wake up. The day of Christmas was behind her and was just a memory, or a bad dream. Her vision started to come back, she wasn't on the couch. She was in a king sized bed. Her mother never had a king sized bed. She gasped and crawled up the bed, her back was against the wall. She looked around at the room. It had a Japanese architecture to it. The walls were beige, the floors and the ceiling were made of ebony wood. Light shined on Katelyne's face through a open window. You could see the dust in the sun light.
    Katelyne quickly got out of the bed and onto the floor. She was in a white dress shirt, black jeans and , her hair was all messy. She smacked her lips and looked out the open window. She saw the blue sky and big pink blossom tree with pedals falling down from it onto the earth. Katelyne had never seen or even heard of a blossom tree. It was rather beautiful. She saw that is wasn't winter here, it looked as if it was spring.
    She walked out of the room, there were no doors to stop her. She looked around this strange place. There were paintings of Anthros doing these poses as if they were about to fight or already fighting. Katelyne had never seen paintings before, pieces of art in Nona were either just sketches or fabricated by a computer. The paintings were truly beautiful.
    She saw a painting of the masked man with a background of fire. Katelyne almost gasped and she jumped back away from this painting. Her heart started to race and the memory of the fires that destroyed her home and her family started to come back. Tears fell from her eyes. The memory was starting to hurt her in the inside, it made her heart ache.
    She heard foot steps approaching her. The memory started to fade away like dust. Her eyes still glassy she looked around, she didn't see anyone there.
    Her breathing started to become shaky. Fear entered her heart. Fresh tears fell from her face. She still looked around. She noticed a chair with a black cloak and the mask on it. Katelyne started to breath more rapidly. The footsteps started to get closer and closer. Katelyne's heart started to beat more rapidly. She felt a hand touch her shoulder. She jumped and quickly turned her head towards the person.
    The person was a female fox Anthro. She was a tall 6'1, she was thin, she had snowy white fur, icy blue eyes and she long blonde hair up in a bun. She wore a black eye patch on her right eye, a white and wrinkly dress shirt, scorched black jeans and rainbow socks. She had a friendly smile on her face.
    Katelyne back away from the fox woman and looked terrified.
    "Don't be scared, I mean you no harm" the fox woman said in a warm and calm voice, she had an Russian accent, which Katelyne had never heard before.
    Katelyne quickly looked back at the chair with the black cloak and the mask on it, then she looked back at the woman.
    "You burned my house down and killed my family!!" Katelyne shouted at her with anger in her voice. She looked angry, angrier then she ever has been before in her life.
    The woman's smile dropped. "I didn't burn you house down....." she said in a gloomy yet calm tone.
    Katelyne could not believe the word that had came out of this woman's mouth. "You liar!" she angrily shout.
    The woman sighed. "I didn't burn down your house, it was the government" she told Katelyne.
    Katelyne scoffed in disbelief of this woman, hatred started to spread through her heart.
    The woman sighed. "I'm sorry of what happened, but I didn't do it. Look if I did you wouldn't be here right now, I would have killed you" the woman told Katelyne still sounding calm.
    Katelyne sighed, she relaxed her face. The woman did make a point. If this woman burned down Katelyne's house, she would have a reason to kill her and her family, but Katelyne was very much alive and she woke up in a bed safe.
    "I guess you do make a fair point, I'm safe, I'm alive, but why were you at my house?" Katelyne asked the woman.
    "I was always there, you just didn't notice me. See after you put on the ring you started to notice things. That ring is a mystical artifact" the woman explained to Katelyne. "The ring emitted a low level of mystic radiation. It's harmless to any biological entities but the government is apposed to magic of any kind"
    Katelyne sighed again. "So why did you knock me out?" she asked the woman.
    "You were scared and I didn't want the hassle, plus I wanted you to sleep safely" the woman explained to Katelyne.
    Katelyne sighed once more. "Thanks, I guess" she said to the woman trying to sounding happy but she sounded more sad and gloomy then happy. She tilted her head a little to the right and brought her eyebrows closer together. "Might I ask your name?" she asked the woman.
    The woman smiled and chuckled. "I'm Viper, and I already know who you are, Ms. Katelyne Starkey du Nord" the woman said sounding cheerful. She took a stage bow.
    Katelyne gasped. She was surprised and shocked. How did this "Viper" know her? Maybe she was a friend of her mothers. Maybe she was a friend of her fathers. Maybe she met "Viper" when she was really young. Either way, it was freaking her out, but what was with "Du Nord". Her family wasn't royalty or so she's been told. Most of the Starkeys has been miners and blacksmiths, one of her ancestors was a werewolf hunter and another was a crime solver, but not royalty.
    Viper chuckled. "Now why don't we have some breakfast and I can show you around the Sanctuary?" Viper asked Katelyne.
    Katelyne tilted her head to the right again and had a puzzled look on her face. "What's the "Sanctuary?" she asked her.
    "Well it's where we are, not the house, it's the area, where Anthros who are casted out from the humans come here, plus it's the only place where you can learn martial arts" Viper explained to Katelyne.
    "What's martial arts?" Katelyne asked Viper. There was no history on karate or any type of martial in the Dwelf education system, in fact the subject of history wasn't mandatory and you would learn basically nothing from the class. The government had the idea of trying not to teach the children history since it might give them the idea of the government's corruption in the past and people might be superstitious on the government. Plus they outlawed home schooling so they would have control over what the children were taught, and they also outlawed martial art schools all over Dwelf so they would have no defence without weapons.
    Viper chuckled. She walked over to her kitchen ignoring her question.
    Katelyne sighed, she walked over to a oak chair and she sat down on the chair. She looked up at the beige ceiling, it had swirls and stars of gold as if it was painted. Katelyne smiled, she started to find this house pretty cool.
    Viper soon had in her hands two wooden plates with omelets, forks and knives made out of bone on each of the plates in her arms. She walked over to Katelyne and handed her the plate in her right hand.
    Katelyne smiled and took the plate with both her hands. She placed the plate on her lap and picked up the knife in her left hand and the fork in her right. She held the knife and fork quiet formally, not like a caveman, just how formal people would hold it to eat. She started to cut into the omelet with her knife.
    Viper moved her mask and her cloak onto the ground. She moved the chair closer to her "guest". She sat down on her chair with her legs crossed. She had her plate of food on her lap. She began to dig into her omelet. She looked up at Katelyne to see if she was enjoying the omelet
    Katelyne started cut her omelet and she started to eat her omelet. Her eyes widened in amazement. This was the most delicious omelet she had ever ate. A beautiful tasted filled her mouth, it was like she was eating heaven in omelet form. She quickly devoured the omelet like she hasn't eaten in days. She finished it in less then a minute.
    Viper chuckled at the sight of the ravenous girl. Viper quickly ate her omelet so she wouldn't keep Katelyne waiting.
    Katelyne smiled widely. "That was the greatest omelet I have ever ate in my life" she told Viper, complementing her omelet.
    Viper smiled and chuckled. "Thanks" she said to the happy cat. She got up and walked back down to a room.
    Katelyne waited for Viper to come back. She wanted to see the "Sanctuary". She stretched down to her feet and she looked up at the ceiling.
    Viper came back wearing a brown leather jacket and black military boots. She had the long red trench over her right shoulder. She walked over to Katelyne and threw her coat over to her.
    Katelyne looked at the coat flying towards her just at the nick of time, but she didn't catch it in time. It just hit her face. Katelyne sighed and started to chuckling. She took the coat off of her face,. She got up from her seat and start to put her coat on, she had a happy smile on her face and excitement gleamed in her eyes.
    Viper chuckled at the sight of this happy cat girl. She walked over to Katelyne and ruffled her already messy hair. She walked over to the door and held the door open.
    Katelyne purred like the cat she was when Viper. Most of the time Katelyne loved it when people ruffled her hair. She walked over and out the door. Viper followed after her.

    Outside was a small village with colorful trees around it. There were no cars, no tall buildings, no sketchiness, and not technology. Just a small village with anthros walking around in colorful kimonos or traditional orange karate gis. The buildings had a Japanese architect. Some people were in pairs as a couple, different anthros, different or same genders. In Nona marriages of different species of anthros were very rare. Some people didn't like different species of anthros getting married or dating.
    Katelyne didn't see much of it, but seeing a whole small village different species of anthros together blew her mind. This place made her feel happy, it made her feel calm. It was like she was underwater.
    Viper took a deep breath, exhaled then she smiled. "So where would you like to go?" she asked Katelyne calmly and happily.
    Katelyne looked up at Viper and smiled. She was about to say something, then they heard punching, kicking and shouting.
    Viper moan in frustration and placed her right hand on her face. She started to quickly walk to one of the buildings with a big white sign over the door marked "Tavern".
    Katelyne followed Viper, since she was the only person she knew and Viper was her tour guide.
    Viper was about to walk into the tavern, then a male wolf anthro who was rather tall and pretty muscular flew out of the tavern. He landed in the streets with a loud thud.
    Katelyne was rather shocked. She quickly walked over to the entrance of the tavern.
    She saw about five men beaten down on the ground, they were all big, muscular and either wolves, foxes or cats. At the middle of the tavern where the action was still happening, a female tiger anthro had a big muscular wolf anthro in a arm lock. She applied pressure to the arm lock and his arm snapped. The wolf anthro cried in pain and the tiger anthro threw him onto the ground. The tiger anthro was 5'10, she had orange fur with black stripes, she looked as if she was in her early twenties, she had green tiger like eyes, she was thin yet she had a muscular tone, mainly in her legs. She wore a red gi with a design of a dragon on the back of it and a ying-yang symbol on the upper right side of her chest and a black belt with seven little lines on both sides of the belt indicating her rank. The tiger woman stood there tall and proud with her victory against the men.
    Katelyne was amazed by this woman. The men were much bigger then her, and they of course out numbered her, but the tiger woman was like fire. A dangerous and wild fire.
    Viper walked up beside Katelyne and sighed. "That's Petra, granddaughter of the grand master who teaches everyone the art of karate" Viper explained to Katelyne.
    Katelyne smiled. She admired this Petra and her skill of the art of karate.
    Viper sighed. "Looks like she's gone and knocked a few teeth out" she said sounding disappointed.
    Petra looked over at Katelyne and Viper and she scoffed. "Look if you want to fight me fine, but don't go crying to me when you have your legs snapped in half" she boasted, she had a Nonaian accent yet there was a trace of an Irish accent.
    Viper face palmed with her right hand. Katelyne wasn't sure of what to do. She just stared at the tiger and zoned out.
    Petra scoffed and crossed her arms. "What are you looking at?!" she asked Katelyne sounding rather mean and rather loud.
    Katelyne snapped back into focus. "Umm..." she mumbled.
    "Ummmm?" Petra asked Katelyne sounding rude.
    Katelyne looked surprised. She started to look down at the ground.
    Viper sighed again. "Petra can you please stop this, she's new around here" she told her.
    Petra walked over to Katelyne ignoring Viper. "Think your so tough?" Petra asked Katelyne, she was only an inch away from her. She grabbed her by the collar of her coat.
    Katelyne let out a whimper, but she didn't feel scared. She looked right up into Petra's eyes. They were like green emeralds. Beautiful green emeralds.
    Viper quickly walked over to Katelyne and Petra. She grabbed the back of Petra's gi and the back of Katelyne's coat. She pulled they away from each other and looked at Petra with anger in her eyes.
    Petra scoffed. "Look I'm just having a little fun with the new girl, that's all" she told Viper sounding sly.
    Viper grumbled. She was about to say something, but she was interrupted by a deep and loud Irish accented voice saying "Petra, that is not how we treat our guests!"
    Katelyne, Viper and Petra looked over at the entrance of the tavern. There was a old tiger anthro man standing at the entrance of the door. He had a long white fu manchu mustache that was down to his chest, aqua eyes, big white bushy eyebrows orange fur with black stripes like Petra and he was only a hair taller then Petra. He wore long robes that was one side black and the other side white, it was like the ying yang symbol on Petra's gi.
    Petra and Viper faced the old tiger and bowed in respect for the old man.
    Katelyne didn't know what was going on. She felt a little embarrassed from not knowing what to do.
    The old man looked over at Katelyne with his wise old aqua eyes. "Who might you be?" he asked her sounding calm yet fierce.
    "I'm Katelyne, Katelyne Starkey" she told the old man, she sounding slightly scared, but she had a nice smile on her face.
    The old man raised his eyebrows and look disbelief.
    Katelyne cocked her right eyebrows and had a look of confusion on her face. "Excuse me sir, are you okay?" she asked the old man.
    The old man lowered his eyebrows. "Come with me, Viper, Petra, you two come along" he ordered, he started to walk out of the tavern.
    Katelyne looked over at Viper. She didn't know what to do. Viper was the only person she knew in the Sanctuary.
    Viper sighed and let go of Petra's and Katelyne's jackets and followed the old man.
    Petra grumbled and had an angry look on her face. She followed after Viper and the old man.
    Katelyne quickly followed them and walked next to Viper.
    Petra walked behind Katelyne and Viper, and Katelyne and Viper walked behind the old man.
    No one said a word during the walk. Katelyne looked back at Petra a couple of times. Petra looked like she didn't want to see her, like she was angry at her.
    Katelyne looked forward and sighed. She wondered what was with Petra, why was she acting that way to her?
    The walk took about ten minutes, then they came across a cave. The entrance to the cave look like a head of a dragon. Cherry blossom trees surrounded the cave. The pink pedals fell off the trees and were in the gust of wind, they danced and twirled all around in the wind. The light shined in the cherry blossom trees. It was a beautiful sight. Katelyne smiled at this sight; her eyes started to become glassy. Then she looked forward towards the dragon cave.
    The four of them soon entered the cave. The inside of the cave was big and rather dark. You could hear a eerie wind that echoed throughout the cave. It was haunting, but Katelyne found the sound of this wind beautiful. Petra walked beside Katelyne. Katelyne looked at the magnificent tiger martial artist. Petra didn't look at Katelyne; she just looked around at the dark cave.
    They soon came to a light blue-green pool, there was an opening in the roof of the cave so they could see the pool. There was a small island in the middle of the pool with a cherry blossom tree. There were pedals in the pool but they just calmly floated in the pool. There was a carving of a dragon in the stone wall behind the pool.
    The old man walked over to the pool, he looked over at Katelyne. "Starkey, can you come over here?" he asked Katelyne sounding serious.
    Katelyne looked at Viper, she didn't know what to do. She was nervous and scared.
    Viper looked down at her and tilted her head towards the old man. "Go over to him, he wants you, don't worry you'll be safe" she told Katelyne.
    Katelyne looked over at the old man. She took a deep breath and swallowed her fear. She started to walk towards the old man.
    "Look into the pool" the old man told Katelyne.
    Petra crossed her arms and scoffed. Viper looks over at her and gave her a angry look. Petra look over at Viper and snickered towards her.
    Katelyne stepped forward towards the pool. She looked down into it. She just saw herself reflected into the pool. Then the reflection started to ripple. There was a blind flash of light that came from the pool. Katelyne closed her eyes and gasped. She started to feel like she was underwater. She opened her eyes. She wasn't in the cave.
    She was in 1940 downtown New York which was called Stella. It was around the middle of the day in the middle of summer. She was in the middle of the streets. Humans and Anthros in suits, trench coats and fedoras walked down the street. No one looked at her, like she was invisible. Katelyne gasped. She looked around and she noticed a cat anthro walk out of a apartment. She kinda looked like Katelyne. She had red 1940s retro hairstyle, she was around 5'11", a sharp-short face, a thin body type, grey fur and steely blue cat-like eyes. She wore a long grey trench coat, a black pinstripe suit, a red pinstripe tie and fancy black dress shoes. Katelyne tilted her head to the right. This woman seemed to stick out more then everything else. Everything soon started to turn grey and time stopped around her. The woman was still in color but she was frozen in time. Katelyne gasped.
    "Victoria Starkey" a elegant feminine Kwae voice echoed in her mind. Katelyne gasped again. She looked around, she didn't see anyone who wasn't frozen in time except herself. "Born 1913, Stella city. Died 1979, the Sanctuary. Detective from 1936 to 1957. Loving mother and wife."
    Katelyne felt as if she was in the water again. She closed her eyes and the blinding light flashed again. She opened her eyes.
    She was in a tavern in 1784, she was sitting in a chair at the bar. She sat next to a big and muscular cat anthro. He had smoky grey fur, a scar across his left cheek, around 6'5", a long-broad face and fiery orange cat-like eyes. He wore a long black leather trench coat, a raggedy black werewolf hunter's hat, a raggedy white dress shirt, well-worn black leather pants, a black leather ammo belt across his body and well-worn black leather boots. He had a mug of mead in his left hand. Katelyne just looked at the man. Then everything around her started to turn grey and time stopped around her. The man was still in color but he was still frozen in time. Katelyne still just looked at the man.
"Garrett Starkey" the elegant feminine Kwae voice echoed in her mind. Katelyne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Born 1742, Ádh mór" Which was the city of Dublin. "Died 1802, the Sanctuary. Werewolf hunter from 1763 to 1799. Karate instructor from 1790 to 1802. Great teacher, founder of the Sanctuary, loving father and husband".
Katelyne started to feel like she was in water again. The blinding flash of light soon appeared again. Katelyne opened her eyes. She was back in the cave. Everyone was looking at her.
"So, what did you see?" the old man asked Katelyne. He had his arms behind his back.
"I... I think I saw my ancestors.. Garrett and Victoria" she told the old man.
The old man raised his eyebrows. He had a happy and excited look on his face.
Katelyne tilted her head to the left, cocked her right eyebrow and had a puzzled look on her face.
The old man walked over to the dragon carving. "Do you have the ring?" he asked her.
Katelyne checked her coat pocket. She pulled out the ring and showed it to the old man.
The old man's smile grew wider. "Now come over here Starkey" he told her sounding very happy.
Katelyne took a deep breath and exhaled. Her heart started to race. She had a strange feeling like this would be a big deal. She slowly crept towards the old man and the dragon carving.
Petra scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Taking forever" she muttered under her breath. Viper looked at her looking cross. She put her right index finger against her lips. She sharply shushed her and looked back at Katelyne.
Katelyne soon got over to the old man. She held up the ring towards him.
The old man softly chuckled. "Now place the ring in the dragon" he told her.
Katelyne looked around at the dragon carving to see if there was a section she could put the ring in. She noticed the right ring finger on the dragon was slightly lifted up from the wall. It was lifted enough that Katelyne could put the ring on the finger. She quickly yet gently place the ring on the ring finger. She started to feel the ground beneath her rumble.
    The old man and Katelyne stepped back from the dragon carving. The grounding was rumbling, then it stopped. The eyes on the dragon turned from stone to icy blue lights, as if it was coming alive.
    Katelyne gasped and started to look amazed. This was surely something fantastic. Viper, Petra and the old man were all amazed by what was happening.
    The ground started to rumble again. The wall with the carving on it started to raise. It was a door leading to a secret room and Katelyne had unlocked the door. The wall carving had risen and it make a click noise when it got to the top. There was a room, like a vault behind the wall carving.
    Katelyne quickly walked towards the room and looked in. The place was filled with cobwebs and dust. There was a dusty bookcase with a few books on it with old, dusty, leather covers. There was a wooden table with a note on it. There was a medium sized steel crossbow leaning against the bookcase, it was dusty and slightly rusted. There was a small black satchel next to the crossbow. There was a silver long sword next to the crossbow. It wasn't bent or dusty or rusting. It looked as good as new. It had strange symbols engraved on the blade of the sword.
    Katelyne walked into the room. Her heart started to beat faster. She had a strange feeling like she's been here before. She walked over to the table and grabbed the note. She opened up the note and she started to read it.
    "Dear reader, hopefully a fellow Starkey. My name is Victoria Starkey, I was a detective in the city of Stella. I have found this place call "The Sanctuary" which was built by my ancestor "Garrett Starkey" who was a werewolf hunter and a master of the martial arts of karate.
    I have came here to store away a magical artifact and books on the mystic language, which has been long forgotten for most people. I have stored away all of that in a place I'm calling "the vault", which I will have people help me to build it. I have chosen this location for the vault so the decedent Starkey would look into the past in the pools of reflection and see myself and Garrett.
    I have also stored away Garrett's equipment in here so people won't steal away his equipment and sell it off. It has a much great purpose for our world. If you have any troubles with caring all the books, the crossbow and the sword. Don't worry, there should be a small pouch I have magically enchanted to has a limitless capacity, but don't put anything else in there.
    I wish you the best of luck, Katelyne.
    ~Love your ancestor, Victoria"
    Katelyne was amazed. This was more then half a millennia ago, and Victoria could tell Katelyne would be reading the note. Katelyne wasn't exactly a common name in the Starkey family. She was actually the first Starkey to be called Katelyne.
    She slide the note into her trench coat pocket. She looked around the vault to find this magic bag. She looked over to the bookcase. She noticed something small and red, it kinda looked like a pouch, but one of the books were leaning on it. She walked over to it and she lifted up to book. She saw the pouch. She quickly grabbed it and opened it up. The inside of it was pitch black, you couldn't see the bottom of it. She reached her hand in the pouch. She fit her whole arm in and she could onto touch the bottom of it with the tip of her middle finger. She took her arm out of it and looked around at the vault.
    Viper, Petra and the old man waited outside for her. The old man was patient and silent, Petra was taunting Viper and making mean and taunting faces at her and Viper was trying to ignore Petra but it was difficult for her.
    Katelyne started to grab the books off the bookcase and place them into the pouch. There was about ten books, they all looked the same, except each book had a different symbol on the front cover. She soon grabbed the crossbow, the small black satchel and the sword and placed them into the pouch. Everything fit easily in the bag, and it was strangely light. It felt like it weighed as much as a can of spray paint. It was incredibly light for a pouch with a sword, a crossbow, a small satchel and ten books. She placed the satchel in her pocket and she walked out of the vault.
    "So, Starkey, are you ready for your adventure? Since you have the equipment." the old man asked Katelyne sounding content.
    Katelyne cocked her left eyebrow. "What do I have to do?" she asked the old man.
    "There is a great evil, it will shroud the world in a forever darkness, a forever winter. It is up to you Starkey to stop this darkness" the old man told Katelyne.

***

    A new day dawned over the Sanctuary. Katelyne was just saying goodbye to Viper and the old man. Katelyne had She had her long, slightly wavy red hair tied back into a pony tail. She was in her long red trench coat, a raggedy, old light brown vest, a raggedy, burnt white t-shirt, raggedy, burnt black jeans, a pair of black fingerless Steampunk gloves and a pair of scuffed, burnt military boots. She had a brown leather backpack on her back. This was going to be a long and dangerous journey, but she was determined and prepared to make the journey.
    Petra was coming along with her on her journey. She didn't say goodbye to anyone, she was just in a surly mood. She was in a well-worn, thin black leather jacket with a hood, a black t-shirt with a big yin-yang symbol on it, black gi pants and black military boots. She had a light brown leather backpack on her back. She had her hip pointed to the left and her arms were crossed. She just really wanted to go, get away from the place. This was going to be her first time away from the sanctuary, sure it was with Katelyne who she didn't like but it was better then Viper or her grandfather.
    So the two of them went off, they walked out of the sanctuary and down a small dirt path leading down a meadow hill. They walked beside each other but Petra kept her distance with Katelyne. They didn't speak a word, it was just the sound of walking boots and the rattling in their bags.
    After two minutes of walking Katelyne spoke, breaking the awkward silence.
    "So how's it going?" she asked Petra sounding a bit nervous.
    Petra sighed, "I'm actually pretty good, I'm finally away from that place" she told her sounding content.
    Katelyne looked up at Petra with a puzzled look. "Why do you want to go away from that place?" she asked her.
    Petra scoffed, "It's dull and boring there. There's no one fun enough to fight and my grandfather is always telling me what to do. Plus it's just peaceful, no action or anything" she exclaimed then she scrunched up her nose. "I bet where you come from, you had tons of fun" she sighed and envied Katelyne.
    Katelyne giggled and blushed, "Well... thank you, but Nona is so big and noisy, too many people" she told Petra. "Just when I'm older I just want to live on a nice small cottage on the side of a lake. Just the sound of nature" she sighed, looked forward and thought of the idea.
    Petra chuckled, "Yeah I can see your point, I would love on a lakeside cottage" she smiled and started to walk an inch closer to Katelyne.
    Katelyne giggled and smiled, "Hey, maybe when we're done this quest and save the world, maybe we can live together in a lakeside cottage?" she asked her jokingly.
    Petra looked over at Katelyne, she slightly tilted her head and smiled. "We'll see" she told Katelyne sounding rather happy. Then she looked forward at the path, they got off the hill and onto flat ground.
    The two of then still walked down the path. They soon got to what looked like a highway, but it was torn-up and cracked. Katelyne and Petra looked at each other.
    "So shall we go on that large looking path?" Katelyne asked Petra.
    Petra looked over at the abandoned highway and sighed. She got on it and then she started to walk down it.
    Katelyne followed her trusting it was the right thing to do. Petra was the only one she got on the journey, so she was the only person she could trust.
    As they walked down the empty and torn-up highway, Katelyne pulled out her little pouch and she reached inside of it. She pulled out one of the books. She placed the pouch back in her coat pocket. She opened up the book and flipped to the first page.
    Petra looked over at Katelyne and her strange book. She didn't care that she that was reading, she just cared that she was happy. She looked back forward at the highway.
    The book had strange words and strange symbols written in it. Words like "Feue" and "Eise" and strange symbols that looked like a little drawing of of a campfire and a little drawing of a shard of ice or glass. Katelyne couldn't make out anything. She closed the book and placed it back in her pocket. "Maybe I'll try to learn this before I go to bed" she thought to herself.
    Petra quickly glanced at Katelyne then she looked in front of herself. She quietly sighed. She bit her bottom lip and she raised her right eyebrow; she looked kinda nervous. She looked away from Katelyne then she quickly glanced over at Katelyne again.
    Katelyne was just looking at the road ahead of herself. Her thumbs against the inside of the straps of the backpack. She looked like she was blanking out or she was just thinking. The two girls didn't say anything, they weren't mad at each other, just thinking.
    After two hours of walking down the highway, the sun was at highpoint, it was around noon. Petra's stomach started to lowly growl. She stopped and sighed.
    Katelyne looked back at her and stopped "What's up?" she asked the hungry tiger.
    Petra sighed again. "I'm hungry" she mumbled and she looked down at the ground.
    Katelyne looked around at their surroundings, she didn't want to stop in the middle of the abandoned highway and open their backpacks. The highway had an eerie and mysterious feeling to it, as if it was haunted. That was Katelyne's superstition.
    She looked around and noticed something hidden behind the trees. She squinted; it looked like a rather large wooden cottage. She started to walk over to it.
    Petra followed Katelyne just in case if something would happen.
    Katelyne walked off the highway and towards the cottage. There was smoke coming out of the chimney, she heard people laughing and having a good time inside.
    "What is it?" Petra asked Katelyne to find out what was going on in there.
    Katelyne looked back at Petra, she had a look of happiness on her face. "There's people inside" she said sounding content. She ran around the cottage the look for the door and Petra followed after her.
    The two made it to the door; they looked in the cottage and saw people dancing, drinking and having a good time, there was also a bar with a fat and tall male husky anthro behind the bar serving people drinks and food. Petra walked into the cottage and she made her way to the bar.
    There weren't any humans at the bar, just anthros. It was a little strange but Katelyne got use to the humanless life. Katelyne sighed and she followed Petra.
    Petra sat down at one of the bar stools and she waited for the bar keeper. She tapped her fingers against the bar in a beat of four. It was a little maddening but it was probably a thing she does when she's waiting.
    Katelyne looked around at the loud and lively. "Maybe I should ask around if someone would help us to the city" she thought to herself. She walked away from Petra and she walked up to a tall, rather muscular and happy brown bear anthro. "Excuse me sir, can you help me with something?" she asked the bear anthro.
    The bear turned towards Katelyne still laughing. "Come here and give papa bear some sugar" he said in a drunk slur then he puckered out his lips for a kiss.
    Katelyne just simply walked away from the bear and sighed. She scanned the cottage in search of someone who was sober enough to tell them how to get to the Cyberpunk city. It was no use, everyone looked pretty drunk and merry. She sighed again. Then she had an idea, a brilliant idea. She curled her right index and placed it on her chin, she scrunched up her face just a bit and she curled her tongue inside her mouth.
    She scanned the cottage again; not in search of someone, but for something. She spotted a dark mahogany violin and a fine oak violin bow. She looked over to see if anyone was going to take the violin. The coast was clear, so Katelyne walked over to the violin, almost like a dancing motion so she wouldn't get hit or knocked down by any of the drunken men. She got to the violin and picked it up. She walked over to the bar and climbed on it; Petra looked at her as if she was crazy, but the bar keeper didn't do anything, he just looked up at Katelyne. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She started to play "The Rocky Road to Dublin".
    Everyone in the place stopped; everything went quiet. The only noise was Katelyne playing her beautiful song. Some people started to clap to the rhythm of the music. Katelyne still played the violin ever so beautifully, she didn't miss a note, she kept a steady pace. Some people started to get up and dance. Everyone was looking at Katelyne and her talent with the violin. Katelyne smiled and was still beautifully playing. She eyed over at Petra to see if she was watching her.
    Petra was clapping along to Katelyne's tune and she had a great big smile on her face.
    Katelyne winked towards Petra as she played; she didn't fumble up. It was fantastic. The cottage was even more lively then ever. People danced and clapped to the violin's tune. Katelyne soon ended then song and she took a deep bow. Everyone cheered and clapped for her. She looked up; her heart was racing and she was taking long breaths. "Now"-She took another deep breath-"Can anyone help me and my friend to the city of Fulgur!?" she shouted at the top of her lungs so everyone would hear her.
    The cottage went quiet; everyone looked at Katelyne as if she was crazy.
    "I can help you" a deep yet calm masculine, Nonaian accented voice told Katelyne in a loud tone.
    Katelyne and Petra looked back at one end of the bar; a 6'0" man wearing black hooded robes sitting at the end of the bar was smoking a long wooden pipe. He took off his hood revealing his face, he was human that looked like he was in his mid forties, he had a broad, rugged face, he had short brown hair that stuck forward, he had a rugged five o'clock shadow, peach colored skin, steely blue almond shaped eyes and a happy smirk on his face.   

    "I can take you, but can you tell me why you're going?" the man asked Katelyne

Very, very old story. Nona: Part One.

The year 2664, December 16th, around 2 in the afternoon in the city of Nona, it was a Saturday. Nona was once the city of Toronto and the greater Toronto area. The city had a theme of Steampunk with fashion, technology and architect. The streets looked Victorian but the buildings were very tall. The city had a greyish atmosphere and looked rather dark or gloomy. Zeppelins that are also Steampunk reach high in the sky, watching everyone. The people didn't care that the zeppelins were watching them, no they just went on with their lives. The use of magic liked witch craft and wizardry was ban in the city and anywhere else in the country of Dwelf which was Canada and the United States of America including Hawaii and Alaska. Humans and anthros lived side by side in the country but some humans were against anthros like a homophobe would be against homosexual people but anthro/human marriage were legal but that was a stake about seventy years before, a great war broke out against the humans and the anthros. Both sides had such great loses. Cities burned, families were destroyed, it was World War 3 (Or how many world wars were before that, could be four or five), but after thirty years of conflict there was a peace treaty was struck between the two sides and humans and anthros have been living side by side ever since.
    Katelyne was at the bottom of a pool in indoor pool area. Kateylne was an eighteen-year-old cat anthro girl. She had snowy white fur, she had long slightly wavy red hair which was flowing in the water, thin with long legs, 5'7", a snowy white furred tail, teal cat like eyes, snowy white cat ears, a cute black cat nose, and a short sharp face and was in a red two piece swim suit.
    She was sitting holding her knees up against her body. Her eyes were open but the pool water didn't eratate her eyes. The water was calm and a clear blue from where she was. Being underwater was a freedom for Katelyne. When she was underwater her worries seem to disappear from her. Though this freedom was only for a minute or sometimes less, her freedom to her could feel like hours to her. Her lungs started to hurt, she got up and kicked herself off of the floor of the pool. She quickly swam up to the surface and she took a deep breath when she got up.
    The surface was noisy. People chatting, children laughing or screaming or people just swimming or playing some games. Katelyne hated lots of noise, she wasn't much as a people person. She would prefer a book over talking with someone, the only friends she really had was her two younger twin brothers Jack and Peter, her mother and a boy named Daniel who was her best friend. She was scanning the pool for her mother, but as she looked around. A volleyball smacked Katelyne right in the face. Her vision was blurry for a moment or so, her eyes started to water and her nose started to bleed. A male lion anthro swam over to Katelyne.
    "Oh, sorry little lady, are you alright?" the lion anthro asked Katelyne sounding worried and concerned.
    Katelyne held her bleeding nose with her left hand so the blood wouldn't get every where, the blood was draining back into her throat, she didn't want to spit it out so she had to swallow the blood.
    Katelyne swan past the lion anthro with her right arm and up to the shallow end, she wasn't mad or anything, she just didn't want to get blood all over the pool. The lion anthro just looked at Katelyne with a look of guilt on his face. She swam up to the end of the pool were little children and their parents were playing and having a good time.
    Katelyne got out of the pool and walked up to four towels. One of them was a towel from the 21st century but it was in a great condition. It was a X files towel with the X files logo and the two main characters Scully and Mulder. Kayetlne would watch the X files every weekend on a ancient website on the internet called "Netflix" which in Katelyne's time it was free to watch. Katelyne grabbed the X files towel and wrapped herself in it and started to dry herself off. She pressed a corner of the towel against her nose so the blood wouldn't drip every where. Katelyne sighed. Her nose started to clot and the bleeding stopped. The corner of the towel was covered in blood, Katelyne sighed again. She looked at the pool. She couldn't see her mother nor her two brothers over the vast majority of people. She looked at the diving board.
    "Maybe I could take a dive on the diving board" Kateylne said sounding slightly conent in her Southern Ontario accent or what was called in her time, a Nonaian accent.
    She got up and placed her towel back down next to the other towels. She walked over to the line to go up to the diving board. She waited for only a moment or so, then it was her turn to dive off of the diving board. She climbed up the ladder to the top of the diving board. She got up to the top in a minute. The diving board was about six meters off from the pool. She walked to the edge of the diving board. Her heart started to race from the height. She walked back to the ladder, but she didn't climb down. She faced the end of the diving board. She ran and jumped off of it. She held her legs close to her body.
    "GERONIMO!" She shouted at the top of her lungs as she was in midair then she took a deep breath. Geronimo was one of her favourite thing to say since she watched a TV show called Doctor who that was the longest running TV show since the mid 20th century and was still running to that day. One of the early Doctors would say that, one of her favourite Doctors.
    Some people looked at Katelyne. She felt the air rushing against her, she closed her eyes as she was in midair. She soon hit the water, there was a big splash of water and some people got wet. She was still holding her legs close to herself, she was sinking to the bottom of the pool. She heard nothing, she felt the water around her. She opened her eyes. The water stung her eyes for only a moment, then her eyes adjusted. She got to the bottom of the pool and she stood up at the bottom of the pool. She started to float up but she was moving her arms upwards so she wouldn't surface up. She pushed herself from the bottom at a forty five degree angle and she swam towards the shallow area. She held her breath as she swam. Some small bubbles started to leak from her nose and mouth. She swam all the way to the shallow end. Her lungs started to hurt again. She rose up to the surface.
    She saw her mother over by the towels with her two younger brothers. Katelyne quickly walked out of the pool and towards her mother and her brothers. Her mother was a 5'10 cat anthro who about the age of forty but she looked younger like in her early thirties, she had white fur and short black hair, she was thin and had yellow cat like eyes and she had a dark grey towel around her. She was looking around at the pool probably looking for Katelyne. Her brothers Peter and Jack were both the age of nine. Peter and Jack were identical twins. They were also cat anthros and were 5'2. They had white fur, short shaggy brown hair, were thin, light green cat eyes and they had a green towel and a blue towel around them. Katelyne walked over to them. Her mother looked over at her.
    "Hey there Kit Kat" Her mother said to her sounding happy in a Nonaian accent. Kit Kat was the pet name that her mother would called her. Kit Kat was a very old type of chocolate bar which was very good. Katelyne was okay when she was called Kit Kat by her mother, but when anyone else called her that, she would get ticked off and annoyed.
    Katelyne smiled. "So are we going home?" she asked her mother.
    Her mother chuckled a bit. "Ya, we're going to go home" her mother told her. She looked at her sons. "Jack, Peter, we're going home" she said to her sons sounding still happy.
    Katelyne grabbed her X files towel and quickly dried herself off. The four of them walked to the changing rooms. Their mother turned to the boys.
    "Now boys, can I trust you two to get changed alone in the male change room without Kit Kat or mummy looking after you?" she asked her boys.
    Both of the boys rolled their eyes at the same time. "Yes mom, we'll be good kids" both the boys said at the exact same time sounding some what annoyed, both in a Nonaian accent.
    When the two boys did something at the exact same time, this would freak Katelyne out, it was like they were telekinetically linked.
    "Promise?" their mother asked them.
    "Promise" the boys said still at the exact same time.
    Their mother smiled. "Good" she said sounding happy.
    Katelyne and her mother walked into the girls changing room and the boys walked into the boys changing room. Katelyne was relived that she didn't have to go to the boys changing room or the two brother didn't have to go to the girls changing rooms. It was indeed a very awkward situation only for her. Her mother and herself walked to two lockers. 803 and 804. Katelyne opened up locked 803 and her mother opened up locker 804. Katelyne quickly got out of her swim suit leaving her completely naked but she was against a locker so no one would see anything too private, just her butt. Her mother grabbed her clothes from locker 804 and walked to one of the washrooms to get undressed so no one would see anything. Katelyne quickly got dressed. She put on her white underpants and bra, then her light brown Victorian pants, her white dress shirt, she buttoned up the dress shirt, then she put on her red Steampunk corset, then her Steampunk boots, then her long black fingerless and finally she put on her well worn black leather jacket which was made in the 21st century. She wrapped her swim suit in her towel.
    "Mum! I'm just going outside!" Katelyne told her mother in a yelling fashion.
    "Alright Kit Kat!" Her mother yell back at her.
    Kateylne walked out of the changing room. She walked to the front desk area and sat on a bench which was against the wall. Katelyne took out her phone and she turned it on. She swiped the phone to unlock it. A blue hologram shot out of the selfie camera, the hologram looked like Mulder from the X files.
    "You have sixteen new messages" the hologram said, the hologram had robotic voice that sounded like Mulder from X files.
    "Check messages" Katelyne said in a quiet tone.
    The phone's screen turned to the messages page. The hologram changed to a human who was eighteen, had long light hair but the colour couldn't be told from the hologram being blue, and had light skin.
    "Sixteen messages from Daniel Forester" the hologram said but it was a male teenagers in a Nonaian accent.
    "Read messages" Katelyne said.
    "Message one: Hey Katelyne, how's it going? Message two: Katelyne is everything alright? Message three: Wanna come over and watch some Doctor who? Message four: Or maybe we can watch some X files if you want, either one works for me."    
    Kateylne chuckled, she knew that Daniel had a crush on her but he didn't know that she knew. They were friends since childhood, around the age of six. Daniel always took a fancy to Katelyne ever since they first met. Katelyne found out that Daniel had a crush on her when they were about ten, but Katelyne pretended that she didn't know. Daniel always had Katelyne's back. The reason why Daniel never told Katelyne about his crush on her was because his parents and his grand parents were anthro-phobic and they would find out that Daniel had a crush on an anthro. Katelyne came over to Daniel's house a couple times when his parents were away. Katelyne and Daniel danced a couple times together and everyday they would have lunches together at school.
    "Stop telling me the messages" Kateylne said.
    The hologram stopped talking but it was still projecting.
    "Can you send this message, Hi Daniel I was just swimming with my mother and my two brothers, maybe we can hang out tomorrow and then we can watch some Doctor who?" Katelyne said. She paused for a moment or so and the phone made a clicking sound and the message was sent.
    Katelyne turned off her phone, the hologram turned off and she looked towards the two changing rooms.
    Her two brothers rushed out of the male changing rooms. They were in black Steampunk pants, black Steampunk boots, brown leather Steampunk coats with hoods and brown leather Steampunk gloves. They rushed over to their sister.
    "Where's mommy?" they asked Katelyne at the same time.
    "Mum is just getting changed, she'll be out in just a minute" Katelyne told her brothers.
    Her brothers sighed. "Mom takes forever" the boys said sounding annoyed at the same time.
    Not even a moment later their mother came out in a long light brown leather Victorian coat, black leather Steampunk pants, black leather Steampunk boots and a brown leather Steampunk gloves.
    The two boys ran over to their mother.
    "Mom, are we going?" the boys asked her.
    Their mother looked down at them and chuckled. "Yes we are my sweet hearts" she said.
    They all walked out of the pool to the outside. They quickly walked to their Steampunk hover car. The two boys got in the back, Katelyne got in passenger side and their mother got in the drivers side and they drove off.
***


    It was a few days later of December the 21st; classes all over Dwelf had ended for the Christmas holidays. Katelyne was walking home from school down the Steampunk grey atmospheric streets of downtown Nona with her friend Daniel. The streets had a fresh blanket of snow but the snow was yucky grey downtown. Daniel was slightly taller than Katelyne, was human, eighteen, had long blonde hair, light green eyes, peach skin and was thin. Katelyne was wearing her light brown Victorian pants, long black fingerless Steampunk gloves, black leather Steampunk boots, a white dress shirt, a red Steampunk corset, a well worn black leather jacket and a blue scarf. Daniel was wearing a red steampunk pirate coat, a black dress shirt, grey Victorian pants, long Steampunk boots and black Victorian gloves.
    Katelyne hated down town. It was dirty and she would see the strangest people there. Even once someone tried to sell her crack but she just walked away. Katelyne and Daniel were still walking down the street. They were chatting about school and what they were going to do for the Christmas break.

    Katelyne was going to stay home with her two brothers and her mother and they would watch some Christmas classics like the ancient tale of "The Christmas Carol" or "The Nightmare before Christmas" like they did every year. They didn't have any other family just the four of them.

    Daniel was going to go to the city Phrell which was once the city of London and Brantfort to see his Grand Parents and his aunts and uncles who all lived there. Daniel and his parents were the only people in their close family who lived outside of Phrell.

    They still chat, after ten minutes they finally got to Katelyne's house which was in a suburban area just outside of Downtown. Katelyne walk up to her house and gave her blonde human friend a hug.

    "Have a great holiday" Katelyne said to Daniel in a sweet and whispered tone.

    They stopped hugging; Katelyne walked up to the door of her place and opened the door. Daniel just continues walking down the street. They lived pretty close together.

    Katelyne walked into her home. Her home was an averaged sized home in the suburban area of Nona, it was warm and cozy, outside from the bitter cold. Katelyne took off her boots and placed them near to door with the other boots and shoes. She walked into her living room. A fire in the fireplace was burning in an orange and yellow masterpiece. She threw her leather jacket on the couch and she took off her corset and threw it with her leather jacket.

She felt something cold shiver down her spine. She started to hear whispers.
    "MUM!" Katelyne shouted in fear.
    No one was there to answer her. Her brothers were still in school and her mother was still at work.
    Katelyne would sometimes hear whispers in her house, when she was alone. Either when she got home from schools or when she would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and her mother and her brothers were still asleep. Once she woke up in the middle of the night and heard the whispers she went over to her mother's room. She noticed a sort of golden glowing was coming from her mother's closet where she would keep her coats. She looked in the closet and saw the glowing was coming from her mother's long red trench coat, but when she reached towards the coat the glowing and the whispers stopped. She didn't want to wake her mother so she just went back to bed.
    This time Katelyne was alone, the whispering has been going on for as long as she could remember. Her brothers never heard the whispering and nor did her mother.
    She knew it had something to do with the trench coat or something in it. Katelyne quickly walked upstairs and crept over to her mother's room. She then crept over to her mother's closet and opened it. The long red trench coat was glowing. Katelyne quickly grabbed the coat and it stopped glowing and the whispers disappeared. She searched in the pockets of the coat. She felt something cold and metal brush up against her hand. She grabbed the cold metal thing and look at it. It was a golden ring with strange engraving on it. It was very clean and shiny. She looked at the trench coat, it was in a great condition as if was newly bough, but her mother had it for years, before Katelyne was even born. She ran to her room with the ring and the coat in both of her hands and she slammed the door close and locked it.
    Katelyne sat on her bed just looking at the ring and the coat. They seem to have a strange aura coming off of them, it was a bit bewitching. She placed down the coat on her bed and she slowly placed the ring on her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. The symbols on the ring started to glow. Her eyes started to flutter and her vision start to become darker, she soon fell down on her bed and passed out.

    Katelyne soon woke up, but she wasn't in her room. She was in a very strange place. The floor was like a black and white chess board and it seemed to be moving. The walks were pitch black like a starless night sky, but there were burst and swirls of light appearing and disappear. The ceiling was a golden eye that kepy opening and closing, it was really freaking her out. The room was long or short, she couldn't tell, it was like her mind was playing a trick on her. She was the only thing in the room, but a short and thin human man in a fine brown tweed suit soon appeared. He had a big and friendly smile on his face. His hands were together and his head was tilted to the right a bit.
    "Hello?" Katelyne asked the man sounding scared and confused.
    "You must be Katelyne? Is that right?" the man asked Katelyne sounding very calm and strong, he had a British accent.
    Katelyne froze in fear. She never ever met this person. He seemed rather alien to her. She never heard a person who had an accent like his.
    Europe and Asia had become one continent called Kwae which hadn't been in contact with Dwelf in over two hundred years. The children of Dwelf had no knowledge of Kwae or anything outside Dwelf.
    "W-w-who are you?" Katelyne asked the Kwae man sounding really scared.
    The Kwae man chuckled. "There is no reason to be scared child. I'm called the Whisper" the Kwae man told Katelyne really emphasizing "the Whisper". He reached into the inside pocket of his tweed coat. Was he going to pull out a knife? A gun?
    Katelyne's heart was racing, she was going to run, but where would she go. There was no windows or doors. It was like a prison. She closed her eyes hoping a miracle would happen.
    "Can you please open you eyes?" the Whisper asked Katelyne sounding very calm and friendly.
    Katelyne opened her eyes. The Whisper had a brown raggedy leather note book in his hand, he was leaning over and he was offering the book to Katelyne.
    She crept towards the Whisper and grabbed the book. The Whisper let go of the book. Katelyne started to feel sleepy, her head started to spin and her vision was darkening. She fell over and passed out. The Whisper just stood there and smiled. "Good luck" he whispered.
    Katelyne soon woke up in her room. She gasped, it was just a dream. She looked at her hand and saw the ring was still on her finger, but it wasn't glowing anymore. She grabbed the coat and started to examine it, but a brown raggedy leather note book fell out of the coat. Katelyne's heart was starting to race, it wasn't a dream. She quickly placed the note book under her bed so no one would read it or find it. She started to hear the door open and foot steps coming into the house.
    "Kit kat, we're home!" her mother yelled in a singsong voice.
    Katelyne's mind race. She quickly took off the ring and placed it back into the coat, she ran out of her room with the coat in her hands and ran to her mothers room. She quickly hung up the coat and raced downstairs. She ran up to her mother and gave her a great hug.
    Her mother smiled and hugged her daughter. She looked down at her daughter, she could see some fear behind her eyes but she knew from what her fear  was from.
***

    Twas Christmas eve in Katelyne's home, around five forty three in the afternoon. Their mother was cooking the Christmas turkey and the two brothers were out back in the cold playing "Peter Pan" Jack was Peter Pan and Peter was captain Hook. Katelyne was sitting on the couch by the open fire. She had her legs close to her body and she was rocking herself back and forth. She was thinking of the Whisper and the strange room. She couldn't stop thinking about it. Every time she fell asleep she would always go back to that room and see the Whisper again. They would chat but Katelyne didn't learn anything from him. She didn't know about the book or the room or even the story behind the coat. When ever she was going to ask the questions in her dream. Her lips would seal shut with her own skin, like she wasn't suppose to ask the questions. Every night before going to bed she would try to read the book but every page had weird words and strange pictures. She was puzzled by this. She didn't want to tell Daniel about this or her brothers or even her mother about the book or her dreams. She didn't see Daniel, not even over the phone. People in the cities could only have contact within the city they are in. You would need a pass to travel from city to city and registering for a pass would take months and a couple hundred negladites (Negladites are the currency in Dwelf, gold coins with the capital symbol on it which was an eye in a triangle which use to be called "the Illuminati").
    Katelyne soon stood up and got off the couch. She stretched and walked towards her mother. Her mother was just basting the turkey.
    "Hey Kit Kat, is everything alright?" she asked her daughter sounding concerned, she could tell something was up with her.
    Katelyne just smiled and looked up at her mother. "Mom, I'm perfectly fine" she told her mother sounding calm and happy, yet she wasn't.
    Her mother smiled and hugged her daughter. "Dinner will be in twenty minutes, can you tell your brothers?" her mother asked her.
    Katelyne nodded and stopped hugging her mother. She walked over to the back door to their backyard. She opened the door and stuck her head out the door, the cold wind blew into the house. Katelyne saw her brothers in their coats playing their game.
    "Dinner in twenty minutes boys!" Katelyne shouted so her brothers would hear her.
    The boys stopped playing for a moment and looked at Katelyne. "Okay!" they shouted back at the same time, like they normally do.
    Katelyne chuckled and stuck her head back into the house and closed the door. She shook her head a couple of times from her head being cold, it was a sort of thing she would do when she was cold.
    She walked back over to the couch to the warm open fire. She laid down on the couch and thought of Christmas, she wanted to get her mind off of this whole "Whisper" business. She thought of her mothers fantastic turkey and their traditional old fashion Christmas movie. This year she wanted to watch the "Nightmare Before Christmas" once again. It was her favorite film of all time. Her brothers probably wanted to watch "Frosty the Snowman" or "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". Katelyne liked those two movies. She always loved it when Frosty said "Happy Birthday" when he came to life, or when everyone loved Rudolph when he guided Santa's sleigh in the terrible storm.
    After the Christmas movie they would listen to some Christmas music like "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" by a man called Dean Martin, or "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" by some woman called Brenda Lee. These songs were more then half a Millennium, how her mother got these was beyond her.
    Katelyne was happy it was Christmas. Not many people celebrated Christmas in Dwelf, but it was a holiday for the schools all over Dwelf. She was the only person (besides Daniel) to celebrate Christmas. Some people thought her and her mother were crazy, but that never stopped them. Sometimes Katelyne and her mother would go to a store, try on hats and take silly pictures or they would chase pigeons in the park (Yet they would be brass steampunk pigeons since they died out in the 25th century by some plague, that only effected pigeons). This was their mother/daughter time when her brothers would still be in school or out for a sleep over. Her mother was her best friend (besides Daniel). Most of the teenagers in Dwelf wouldn't hang out or even talk to their parents, but Katelyne wasn't a normal teenager.
    Twenty minutes later, Katelyne's mother came out of the kitchen with a twenty pound turkey in a brass turkey tray. She walked over to the dinning table and placed the turkey in the middle of the table. She placed her hands on her hips, looked at the turkey, sighed and made a goofy smile. Her face soon relaxed and she quickly looked over at Katelyne.
    "Kit Kat, can you ask your brothers to come in?" her mother asked her in a slightly exhausted tone but mainly happy.
    Katelyne got up and off the couch. She walked back to the back door and opened it up. She looked out the door. She saw her brothers talking to a man, he was tall, about 6'1, wore a black hooded cloak, she couldn't see his face. The man was just looking down and talking to the boys.
    "Hey!" Katelyne shouted to the man.
    The man looked at Katelyne, he wore a white mask that was of a face with an over-sized smile and red cheeks, a wide black mustache upturned at both ends, and a thin black vertical pointed beard. She jumped in fear and her heart started to race. The man turned back to the boys, he took a stage bow and then he disappeared into thin air, as if he wasn't there in the first place.
    Katelyne darted her eyes towards her younger brothers.
    "Dinner's ready!" she shouted at them, still having fear in her voice.
    Her brothers dashes into the house, stomped their feet at the door and quickly took off their coats. They ran towards the table and sat down
    Katelyne giggled, and walked over to the dinner table and sat down. Across from her mother and beside Peter and Jack. On the table there was her mother's turkey, a large cup of gravy, a bowl of salad and garlic bread.
    The four of them started to dig in and eat. The boys grabbed some of the garlic bread and a leg per boy. Her mother grabbed some salad, some turkey and she poured the gravy on the turkey. Katelyne grabbed some salad, some of the turkey, some gravy and some of the garlic bread. Normally Katelyne wasn't a big eater, but during the holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, she ate like she hasn't eaten in days. Some times she would get a stomach ache, indigestion or she would just fall asleep. Once it was all three.
    After ten minutes of chomping down on the food and silver ware clacking against the plates, there was a knock on the door. Their mother stopped eating and swallowed a piece of turkey.
    She widely smiled as if she was happily surprised and she gasped. "Kids, who would that be?" she asked sounding happy, yet she knew who was at the door.
    Peter and Jack's faces lit up with excitement and happiness. They stopped eating. They ran to the door and they opened the door. A 6'7 male grey wolf anthro who looked as if he was in his mid thirties, he had a thickish build. He was in a bright red frock coat, bright red jeans, black military boots, a black leather belt, a fake, long, white beard and a bright red sock hat with a white pom pom on the end of it. He had a big brown leather sack filled with something over his shoulder
    "Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas" he said sounding rather jolly, loud and in a Nonanian accent
    He walked into the house and dropped the sack on the living room floor. He opened up the sack to reveal that there was at least two dozen hand crafted, painted, wooden toys. Swords, little trains, a little blue police box for Katelyne and little people. The boys hugged the wolf anthro and dug into the toys.
    Katelyne smiled with some turkey in her mouth. She quickly chewed and swallowed it. Their mother smiled, rested her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. She chuckled and looked at how happy her boys were.
    The wolf anthro quickly grabbed the little blue police box and walked over to Katelyne. He smiled and placed it in front of Katelyne, on the table. He smiled and gave Katelyne a hug. Katelyne smiled and hugged the wolf anthro.
    Her mother smiled at looked at Katelyne and the wolf anthro and was still smiling. She had happiness in her eyes.
    "Thank you Robin" her mother told the wolf anthro with a glee in her voice.
    Robin chuckled and hugged their mother. "It's the best I can do Sky, ever since. Well. What happened to Hunter" he said with sorrow in his voice.
    Their mother sadly sighed and her eyes became glassy. In 2648 when Katelyne was only two. Their father worked at a coal mine, which in Dwelf was a high paying job. During the night of Christmas their father had to work a shift during the day, but there was an explosion which killed everyone in the mine. Around ten in the afternoon, Katelyne's mother got the news, she cried for days. She didn't sleep and didn't eat for days.
    This was Katelyne's first memory. She remember Robin and a few other of their friends came over and tried to comfort her mother or take care of Katelyne. It wasn't an easy time for them, but after some time, the scar started to fade, her mother was able to work and take care of Katelyne. Every Christmas Robin would come over and play Santa for Katelyne then her brothers. Robin was like a second father to Katelyne.
    Katelyne smiled and looked at the little police box. She grabbed it with both her hands and held it close to her chest. She closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and sighed.
    "So, you two have a very merry Christmas and if you need anything just call me" Robin said with a hushed and soft tone.
    Katelyne's mother smiled. "Thanks, and you too" she said with happiness in her voice.
    He gave Katelyne a kisses on the top of her head and he walked off. She sighed and laid back in her chair. Her mother chuckled and got up.
    "So what shall we watch this year?" she asked her daughter sounding calm and happy.
    Katelyne had a bit of a sleepy look on her face but it was happy. She slowly got out of her chair and stumbles over to the couch and fell on it face first. She closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep.
    Her mother chuckled and put her right hand against the side of her face. She sat down next to Katelyne and rubbed her back. She kissed her head and whispered "Good night".
    Many hours later, around three in the morning, Katelyne woke up. Everything was dark, she could only see figures of things around her living room. She felt something against herself and something on her right ring finger. She stood up and she saw she was in her mothers long red trench coat. She held up her right hand and saw the mystical, golden ring on her right ring finger. She jumped in fear, why were they on her and who put them on her? She looked around and gasped. Her mind started to race, she started to smell something burning. She stopped and sniffed the air. Something was burning.
    Her heart started to race. She quickly walked around the room. She found the stairs and ran up them. She held the railing so she wouldn't fall. The smell of smoke and fire started to become even more strong each time she walked up the stairs.
    She soon quickly walked to her mothers room. She opened the door. Her mother was fast asleep. She walked over to her.
    "Mom" she said in a quiet yet scared tone.
    Her mother woke up and sat up.
    "Kit Kat, what's up?" she asked her daughter sounding sleepy.
    Katelyne took a deep breath. "I smell something burning" she told her mother still sounding scared yet it was a louder tone.
     Her mother opened her eyes more and quickly got out of bed.     "Get your brothers!" she told her in a loud and worried tone.
    Katelyne ran down to her brothers room and tried to open the door, but it was locked. She ran back to her mothers room.
    "The doors locked!" she told her mother sounding very scared.
    Her mother ran out of her room and towards the boys room. She grabbed the handle but it was burning hot. She quickly let go of the handle. The door started to catch on fire. The flames were roaring in it's orange and yellow masterpiece.
    "Katelyne run!" she bellowed at her daughter. She would never call her Katelyne unless it was something urgent or dangerous.
    Katelyne ran out of her mothers room and down the stairs. The front door was also up in flames. Katelyne gasped, the flames reflected in her eyes.
    Her mother tried to kick down the door but it was no use.
    "Jack, Peter!" she yelled towards the door. She was still trying to kick down the door. The boys didn't respond. The ceiling started to catch fire. She looked up at the ceiling and ran down the stairs. Soon the whole upstairs went up in flames.
    Katelyne froze in fear of the deadly flames engulfing her house and her brothers. Her mother ran towards Katelyne and grabbed her hand.
    She pulled her daughter to the back door, but that was also up in the deadly hot flames. They were trapped. Tears started to fall from her mothers face. She face her daughter.
    "Vale" she whispered sounding so sad and so scared. She hugged her daughter and cried. Katelyne hugged her mother, she didn't know what was going on. Her vision was blank and she couldn't feel her body.
    Her vision came back after a moment or so. She wasn't in her home. She was just outside her house, the flames roared and were bright and high. Her home and her family were destroyed. Tears fell from her eyes. She kneeled down and cried in her hands.
    She soon felt the touch of a leather gloves on her shoulder, this startled her. She quickly turned her head back and saw the tall, masked man. She gasped but the masked man put a white funny smelling clothing on her face, she started to feel sleepy. She soon blacked out, not knowing what her future had in store for her.

Black Heart - Flying Fists

Let's paint a prettier picture. You're probably sick of all of this sadness, all of this sorrow. Why don't we do something more active? Maybe fighting?
    Loki was standing in a pit, it had the heavy stench of smoking and beer. People were looming around the pit, gazing into it, waiting for the fight. They were in a large room, it was once a warehouse, but it had been abandoned a long time ago, another age. It had been turned into “the Pit”: a place for men -- and women -- to throw fists at each other to prove their mettle; while spectators would shout, spit, drink, laugh, watch and cheer on the fighters. It was a good time with good company.
    Loki enjoyed a good fight from time to time, it was in her blood: she was Irish -- a stereotype nonetheless. She used to take karate; not going back a year ago, when she had moved out of her father's place and into the apartment with Vada. In fact, that's where Vada and Loki met. They were in a sparring match together, and just as they started, Loki said “Fantastic:” a catchphrase from their favorite television show: Doctor Who. Thus beginning their beautiful and romantic relationship.
    The crowd cheered as Loki stood across from her opponent -- a tall and beefy man with short, yet messy black hair, and sharp grey eyes. He had a smile upon his face, a friendly smile; but his eyes told a different tale: they flickered with a fire that ready to fight. Loki -- who was much shorter, despite her tallness in comparison to her friends and her love, and small than him -- showed no fear. Her heart was pounding in her chest in excitement mixed in with a spoonful of nervousness.
    Her love was wedged in the looming crowd of people. She cheered Loki on to keep her cool and to keep her confident.
    Loki loved it whenever Vada came to see her fight in the Pit. Sometimes, if Loki was victorious, they would sparring with each other; but it would end up with them on the couch, kissing -- and other stuff -- each other.     "Let's go, Loki!" she cried out. "You can do it, Boo!"
    Loki smiled; she turned towards her love and she blew a kiss and a wink to her. She face her opponent again. The bowed to each other and the crowd fell silent. They backed away from each other, getting into their stances.
    The opponent's stance seemed heavy and formless, rather sloppy. His legs seemed out of place and his arms were half-way up. While on the other hand, Loki's stance seemed to be elegant and tight. She kept a heel-to-toe stance and he kept her hands up to her face.
    Soon, the match began; the smile faded off the opponent's face, and the crowd went nuts: they cheered them on and they shouted and snarled at them, it was a fine mixture of both, perfect for the Pit.
    Loki danced around her opponent, while he took heavy steps, barely keeping his guard up. They kept serious eye contact with each other, his greys to her blues. For the first ten seconds they did not throw anything at each other -- the crowd was getting impatient and antsy, they wanted to see some action. The opponent threw the first shot: a meaty jab towards the small girl.
    She stayed light on her feet, and she evaded the strike and she came close towards him; and she threw quick strikes to his strong body. The beefy man flinched from her strikes; but he began to throw strikes back at her.
    Loki was luck enough to stay light on her feet, jumping back, and evade three of the shots, but on the fourth he slammed her right in her blue -- her eye -- causing it to blacken and made it watery, unclear for her to see. She shook her head and she glared at the beefy man; she heard a faint ringing noise burrowed in her ear, it was quite annoying; but she just shook it off and she stepped back in the fight.
    Vada seemed a little tense -- scared even -- but she knew that Loki would do fine, whether or not she would succeed or fail. She winced when her love was stricken by the heavy strike.
    The meaty man would throw sturdy strikes to her; but they were not quick enough to hit the ginger. They came close to her, almost striking her; but she was a lucky lass. She would occasionally she would come in towards him like a rocket -- delivering jabs and crosses to his ribs and his brawny face. She only got two strikes into him, before she had to fallback away from him, before he sent any powerful shots to her.
    The meaty man watched Loki as she dodged left, then right; throwing a crisp hook-punch to his jaw; causing him to stagger backwards an inch or so. He shook his head twice, and he still threw strikes to the slender ginger with great strength, much like an oak tree. The small girl still managed to keep on her face, but her body started to tire and beads of sweat trickled down her face and body. Her breathing began heavy, but she still fought on; for her victory and her Vada. She still dodged and struck the oaken man with quick blows; but she made one wrong move, and bam! The oaken man struck her square to her chest with his garnet fist.
    Loki fell onto the edge of the ring; her head pounded inside her skull. She held on the rim of the pit with tight fingers before she rose up on her feet. Her lip was bleeding, she tasted the beautiful, red liquid -- it was sweet mixed in with a metallic and a salty taste. She took a deep breath and she raised her hands up back in her guard, shakily and uneasily. She was still persistent, like an undying flame. She spat out a scarlet coin onto the cold floor of the pit; the crowd wailed and cried with excitement. They loved how Loki was still fighting, not giving the beefy man an easy victory.
    The pit was shifting and turning in the mind of Loki; everything a growing silent as a library. The figures and lights blurred and they spun; but her opponent was still clear as day to her. This is where she really got to see who he really was:
    A golden ring on his large finger, it glinted in the light: he was a married man. He also had tired eyes: he was getting very little sleep; and his eyes also gleamed with a kind light. Was he a father? She saw how this man was strong, in more way than one. He was fighting for money for his family.
    She could not beat this man; she thought about a little girl. She saw a little girl burrowed in the darkness, alone and now afraid. The lanky shadowy hands laid on her shoulders, urging her to come with them into hell. She was shattered, broken into pieces.
    She stood still, waiting for the man to punch her at least. She kept her guard up to give the illusion she was still fighting; but her movement was slowly and heavy, like the oaken man's. Her heart was rapidly beating in her chest: waiting for the beating the man was going to give it. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. It was all over soon enough. The steel mitt struck her with such force, making her fall onto the rough terrain of pit, and her vision darkened into the abyss.
    "Steady now… plunge into the pool of your madness. Lose yourself in your own mind. Don't worry, you won't be missed. Don't worry, you'll be fine, everyone will be fine if you would just lose yourself into hell. Lose yourself, and you, your brother, and your love will be at peace. Just lose yourself and the world will be right."
    "Loki! Loki, honey! Wake up!"
    The warmth of her love's hand stroked the side of her cold slender face. She could hear the worriment woven into her voice. Slowly Loki opened her eyes to see a pale light dangling above. She also saw the worried eyes of her love and her lips quivering in fear. Her brown hair acted like a curtain to the two loved ones. A soft, yet painful smile rose up on the ginger's face.
    "Hey, Boo," said Loki wearily. “Sorry I got my ass handed to me." She began to softly chuckled underneath her broken breath.
    Vada embraced her love, almost crying over her shoulder. "You had me so worried!" She held her tight to her breast, like she afraid of letting her go. "You were out for hours!"
    Loki sat up; a sharp pain was embedded in the side of her face where the imprint of the beefy man's fist had laid. 'shh, shh," she whispered into the ear of her love. "I'm okay, I'm okay. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."
    Vada still held her love tight to herself. She could tell that there was something wrong with Loki, more than usual. What happened in the fight was something she had done herself, like she had lowered her guard and let the punch pound at her. Vada was of course worried for her love, she was always worried for her love, and Loki was always worrying for her; but Vada was worrying more than usual: anger and sorrow seemed to be consuming Loki, and it broke Vada's heart just to see her wither from the inside out.
    Loki was never the one to tell anybody all of her feelings, not even her love. Loki did not want other people to get consumed into her own problems, her own troubles, but friends and family would intervene, never leaving her alone, asking her what was wrong. She hated it when people asked her what was wrong. The only exception was her Vada: she was the only person Loki had opened up to, but she would still not tell her everything. She did not want to see her getting hurt, she did not want to see Vada suffer through pain once more (a depressing tale I dare not get into. Sorry to burst your bubble, and sorry for bringing it up) and most importantly: she did not want to lose her love. She would rather lose herself then lose her precious Vada. She loved her to the point of madness. A point Loki would see sooner rather than later.
    The two held each in their arms so lovingly, yet so scarcely. When they finished they stood up and they walked home -- Loki clutched the side of her chest while she felt a throbbing pain kicking on her chest -- and they sat on the couch together once they arrived at their destination. They took no stops and no pauses, and they said no words down the dark streets.
    Loki laid her head upon Vada's breast on the couch, and she listened to her heartbeat: thump-thump, thump-thump. It was strange. Vada's heartbeat would always calm Loki down, and sometimes Loki would fall asleep just listening to Vada's heartbeat. She could never explain why it soothed her, it simply just did. She closed her eyes tightly and she just listened to her love's heartbeat. Vada kept her hand on the back of the ginger's head and she gently stroked it. They fell asleep on the couch that night.

Black Heart - Terrors in the Night

 The sky was bright and the sun was high in the sky. A heap of people were standing; shouting and arguing against something, someone. They held signs of disagreement and hate. It was surely a protest. Among the crowd there was a girl, a little girl; but she looked like a grown woman. She knew why she was there, and she was shouting and arguing with the others. Beside her stood a willowy woman with black hair and glasses to her left, and an big and strong old man with a beard and white hair. They were her parents -- a mother and a father. They were not together, they were apart, they did not love each other, not anymore; but they both loved her so much, more than anything, and she loved them back.
    The little girl held up her sign high in the sky, and she shouted for everyone to hear; but things began to turn sour. The sky darkened and everything was gone with the wind, except the little girl. Everything had vanished into dust and ash, including her father and her mother. All that remained were looming figures around the little girl, all dressed in black. They looked at her with sinister dark eyes.
    The little girl was cracked, broken. Black tears began to drip from her eyes, her sad eyes. The men in black left the little girl broken, but not afraid. She might have been broken but she was not afraid. Her sad eyes began to flicker with fire, a roaring fire, an angry fire. The men in black were gone, and all that was left was darkness, and loneliness.
    The little girl looked around at her darkness, and she noticed something: a body. She look at the body to see it was something terrible: her love, on the ground, pale as a ghost, in a pool of scarlet red. She began to weep and she ran towards her love, crying out her name, but shadows and shades grabbed at her, pulling her away from her love. She persisted and she fought her way through, but it was too late. She was again in darkness. Alone and now afraid.
    "Vada!" cried Loki; she bolted up in the bed. Her breathing was heavy and she was drenched in cold sweat. Her body was shaking with fear. It was the middle of the night, and the ginger had just woken from a nightmare. Her heart was rapidly drumming in her chest.
    She looked over beside her: she saw that Vada was still fast asleep, safe and sound, wrapped in covers and hopefully a good dream, better than Loki's. Loki was so relieved that Vada was okay, that she was peacefully sleeping beside her.
    "Thank god," she sighed in relief; still gazing at Vada with worried eyes. "I love you so much," she told the sleeping beauty, then she placed a gentle kiss upon her forehead. Vada stirred in the bed; she looked so peaceful in her sleep.
    Loki got up from the bed as she gazed into the darkness of her apartment. She was alone. Her heart seemed restless and her mind was unsettled -- she needed to stay up, to try to forget what had just gone through her mind. She began to step into the darkness, making her way through the apartment blindly.
    The cold pale light from the streetlamp outside on the cold sidewalk was little help to the ginger: the black curtains were drawn up. She heard sirens wailing off in the distant. Loki made her way down through the murky apartment, into the small pale bathroom. She closed the door and she flipped on the soft golden light.
    She looked into the mirror to see her reflection. A little girl without parents, that's what she saw, that's what she felt like. She leaned on the sink and she sighed, bowing her head down as if she was defeated.
    She looked back up into the mirror. She saw something else in the reflection. She saw a man in a black suit, and black shades, and black hair. He kept an emotionless face; he just gazed at Loki with eyes she could not see.
    Anger began to boil in her blood; she crossed her eyes. She began to see more and more men in black, each one identically the same. It made her boil with rage.
    "Fuck off!" She swung her fist towards the men in black; but it only struck the mirror, causing it to shatter and break, causing her fist to get cut and to trickle with red -- the colour of rage and the colour of bloodshed.
    Loki did not see anymore men in black hiding in her shattered mirror, she only saw herself and her broken fist.
    "They're not there," she mumbled to herself, and she began to remember a poem she had written years back, a poem she called Broken:

"Slut, Fat, Whore!" they chanted.

I just ignored them, pretending they're not there.

"Fuck-Girl, Tramp, Bitch!"

I sighed, "They're not there," I muttered to myself.

"Come on, you little whore!" they giggled.

I clenched my fist. "They're not there," I continue to tell myself.

"Little fat bitch, we're talking to you!"

I started to growl, "They're not there."

"Little fat bitch, little fat bitch!" they chanted.

I finally snapped, I swung my fist, hitting them.

I hear glass breaking, my fist started to bleed.

I collapsed to my knees and I cried in my hands.

I was alone in the room, alone with bits of broken mirror by my feet.

"They're not there."

    It was like the poem was coming to life, like her words were turned against herself. It was strange. She had tears in her eyes, she was fighting back the urge to cry. She did not want to look weak, she had cried enough that day. She needed to stay strong. She closed her eyes and she tried to think about something else: love, she was just thinking about love. She rolled the “L-word” in her mouth, seeing how it sounded funny, like all words. She curled it with her tongue and she blew it through her teeth.
    She thought about it long and hard. She thought about kissing, hugging, holding hands, whispering in each other's ears, saying it to one another. Then she began to think about her love -- her Vada. She thought about every moment she had spent with her: seeing movies together; walking together on a beach, underneath the full moonlight; just kissing each other. She embraced the moments, trying not to think about her horrible nightmare. She even heard the voice of her beloved Vada calling to her. Then she felt her warm hand touch the side of her cold slender face; she opened her eyes.
    She saw the brunette in front of her, wrapped in sheets, with worried eyes. Her hand was upon the ginger's face.
    "I heard the mirror break, and I heard you scream fuck off,” she whispered; she held her tight to her soft and warm body. She slowly caressed the broken girl's back in comfort. "Did you have another nightmare?"
    Loki held her beloved tight in her slender arms; the pale tears dripped from her eyes. She slowly nodded in response to her love's question. "I… it… it…" she just held her love in her arms tightly. She was afraid of letting, like she would turn into just a memory if stopped holding her, even for a second. Vada was the only thing that made Loki feel safe and secure, she was like an anchor to her ship in the stormy sea. If Loki had lost Vada, then she would plunge into madness, and probably something far worse.
    The two held each other underneath the soft light of the bathroom. Loki's fist still bled with scarlet, and it stung with an ungrateful pain; but it nothing in comparison to the pain Loki would endure if Vada had been taken away from her, either by the hand of fate, or the men in black. It would shatter her world into oblivion.
    "I love you," whispered Loki into Vada's ear; she kissed the side of her neck passionately.
    "I love you too," whispered Vada; she kissed her love back on the side of her neck. She held her love tight to her body. "Do you want to go back to bed?"
    "Yes, please" said Loki softly. "But, I need to hold you, my love. I need to hold you before I go back to bed."
    They proceeded out from the pale bathroom, flicking off the light before they left, and they crept over back to their bedroom. There they laid down together on the queen-sized bed, holding each other in their arms, cuddling like bears. Loki felt a warmth spread through her heart, and she felt comfort and safety, like nothing could harm them. She breathed slowly and gently. Slowly her eyes began to close and she passed out into a deep slumber.